Alaska Family Action Questionnaire
In mid-August Alaska Family Action, the political arm of The Alaska Family Council, sent a short questionnaire to me and apparently all the other candidates for school board and borough assembly. There were four questions, each of which could be answered yes/no/undecided and each of which had a Comments section.
Because this was a short web form questionnaire, and I mistakenly assumed my answers would be emailed to me or immediately displayed upon submission, I do not have a copy of my submission. My recollection is that I put in my comments that I wanted those comments displayed with my submitted answers if the survey was publicly released. That did not occur, and as of this writing I have emailed and left a phone message to this organization requesting that they provide my complete response; when and if it is provided then I will post that.
Until then, below is what I submitted to the best of my memory. Any “Follow up note” is my understanding of existing statute, not original submission. Across the questionnaire topics my views align with existing law and policy and I have no interest in changing either.
Their email survey and communication made no indication that an endorsement by Alaska Family Action was tied to the questionnaire, and I did not assume such or seek an endorsement.
I am not religious and thus would never be a participant in what is clearly a faith-based organization. Their stances to not align with my own, and I am particularly not supportive of what I perceive as their general view that LGBTQ orientations are a sin.
I am not of the mind that when I disagree with a person or group that everything possible should be done to shun them and drive them from the public square. I think that polite engagement rather than shunning is generally an appropriate approach, and so I filled out their questionnaire.
My responses, as I remember them from about one month ago.
1. Should parents be informed when a student requests changes at school related to gender identity, names, or pronouns? Yes
Comments: If knowledge exists of any kind of abuse or potential for abuse against the student, then the student must be protected. Otherwise, parents should be made aware of these changes.
Follow up note: The issue of parental notification is predominately a matter of state law rather than school board policy, and my comments are consistent with existing law.
2. Do you support transparency policies that allow parents and community members to easily review school curriculum materials, classroom reading lists, and library catalogs? Yes
Follow up note: My understanding is that this is already existing policy in our school district.
3. Do you support maintaining biological sex-specific restrooms, lockers rooms, showers, and changing areas to protect student privacy and safety? Yes
Comments: Anywhere where there are communal areas where it is acceptable for students to be partially or fully unclothed must be single user or single sex. Facilities and oversight must be such that every student must be safe and accepted at all times, and free from bullying.
Follow up note: Accommodations for individual students are made in our district on an individual basis at the school level. These existing policies appear to be working and I have no aspirations to change them.
4. Do you support schools returning to the basics—such as reading, writing, arithmetic, and science—while leaving instruction on values, morality, and social issues primarily to parents? Yes
Comments: I support the recently passed legislation adding civics education to the school curriculum, and I would like to see a course in critical thinking considered. In some sense, these are teaching values, as are elements of history/social studies and a few other important required courses. Obviously, honesty and ethics should generally be part of education.
